I won't lie, I think this is the game I have the hardest time getting into (But that might just be because I haven't played many RTS games before.)
Some things I did like about the game were that it genuinely felt interesting to get used to. I had to use my brain and make sure that I wasn't using my energy on attacking when my character was at one HP which is definitely a good thing to have for a boss battle.
Some issues that I had were this.
1. Difficulty / Understanding: Regardless of if I was trying to understand how the game worked, I genuinely could not understand if it was my goal to kill the humans, or the boss. This also plays in tandem with how the mechanics worked. I didn't really know why the cards allowed me to calm the bosses rage until I was at the game over screen. In my opinion, this game would do well with a tutorial.
2. Theme cohesiveness: You stated this in your description but I wanted to put in some insight as to how you could improve this for next time and what I would have done.
- I would have made the player the boss dealing with rushes of these "Hero's" until you've either built up enough souls to unleash a fatal blast that kills every hero around you (Win state) or run out of HP (Lose State). This would have fit the theme perfectly while also likely making it easier for you to scale a boss battle that would have been more fun.
I hope this didn't come out as negative feedback but rather as constructive criticism as that is my goal with this post.
I hope to see you again in future Jams!
Viewing post in THE LONG HUNT jam comments
Thank you so much for such detailed and constructive feedback! It doesn't come off as negative at all—it's incredibly helpful.
You completely hit the nail on the head: the lack of a tutorial and the chaotic real-time pacing really hurt the experience, and your idea of playing as the Boss defending its ground sounds awesome.
Reading this is great validation for us, as we are currently redesigning the project into The Long Hunt—moving away from that confusing RTS rhythm and shifting to a turn-based digital tabletop approach with clear phases and time to actually think. Your points confirm we are on the right track!
Thanks again for helping us make the game better!